This invention relates generally to cartons for packaging multiple articles such as beverage cans, bottles and the like, and more particularly to a paperboard carton with an article dispensing feature for providing an access opening through which articles in the carton may be dispensed one by one.
Beverage cartons with a built-in dispensing feature are known in the art. One example is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,364,509 in which a can dispensing feature is torn out of an end closure structure at one end of a tubular carton. The end closure structure is composed of a bottom end flap, a pair of side end flaps and a pair of web panels each foldably interconnecting the bottom end flap to a respective side end flap. A pair of tear lines are formed in the side end flaps respectively to facilitate tearing of the end closure structure. Tearing along the tear lines provides a swingable dispensing feature formed of the bottom end flap, the web panels and portions of the side end flaps which have become free of the remainder of the side end flaps. The dispensing feature so torn out may be moved outwardly and downwardly to define in the end closure structure an access opening through which the cans may be removed one at a time. A drawback of this carton is that each side end flap must be individually torn along the respective tear line to have the dispensing feature ready to use. It may even require that the side end flaps be pressed at more than one location along each tear line to break the tear lines.
What is needed, therefore, is a carton that is provided with an improved article-dispensing feature that is convenient to use. Such a carton should allow both the tear lines to break by a single tearing action.